About Us

I have spoken and taught Spanish for over 20 years, teaching at Tulane University, Berlitz, and in Buenos Aires. My experience using music to learn a foreign language first began many years ago while I was a Rotary Exchange student in Zacatecas, Mexico. Music played a large role in my becoming fluent in Spanish, and also helped me retain my language skills through the years. As I moved on to other languages such as Italian and Portuguese, music once again provided an important tool for acquiring and practicing grammar concepts, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

I don't discount the importance of spending time with native speakers, but music is a wonderful supplement for developing and maintaining your language skills. The main goal of The Musical Linguist™ is to provide products that make learning fun. To this end I encourage all to send comments, questions, or suggestions to my email address, so that we can create products that best suit your needs.

Stacey Tipton Reiman holds an M.A. from Tulane University in Latin American Studies and is also a proud alumnus of Washington State University. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband Rob and children Nicolas, Julia, and Catherine.

Mel and Brenda Tipton, Co-Publishers

To see the people who helped turn this line of products from a dream into a reality, please take a look at my parents Mel and Brenda. To see their picture click here.

Vocalist Erick Gabriel

A former child music star from Caracas, Venezuela—Erick began his musical career at age 10 when he appeared as a contestant in a television show called "Child Star Search." At age 12 he was selected from the Venezuelan musical festival to become part of the cast of a tv program called "Festichamo," where he performed as a singer and actor for 2 years. By age 17 he recorded his first solo album, "Erick Gabriel" with Velvet Records in Caracas. During his album tour he was invited to open for blockbuster Latin stars such as Ricardo Arjona. Erick is also an accomplished composer, and his songs have been used in television throughout Latin America and broadcast on Univision in the United States.

Vocalist Jorge Parra

Born with a natural ear for music, Jorge began his musical career in Caracas singing with a juvenile group called "Arcos y Voces Juveniles." He went on to study theory in the renowned musical school of Emil Friedman, and later in the private Venezuelan conservatory Juan Jose Landaeta. After resettling in the U.S., Jorge further developed his talents as the lead vocalist for the Spanish Rock band EXODO, where he toured around the U.S. and Puerto Rico for 10 years. In Puerto Rico they participated in the biggest Spanish Rock Festival to date called "Primer Festival de Pop-Rock Latino," playing in front of audiences of over 35,000 people. We are fortunate to have Jorge's charismatic voice and energy as one of the driving forces behind Musical Spanish. If you'd like to hear some of Jorge's songs with Exodo, go to his mp3.com page.

Marianne Jacques Pohl

Marianne also teaches Business Education at a Junior High School. Marianne helped design the cover art and website for Musical Spanish, and has helped with marketing and strategy. Marianne is a proud alumnus of Washington State University, and was also a Rotary foreign exchange student in Kagoshima, Japan.